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Vol 57 No 25

Published 16th December 2016


Angola

Dos Santos picks his man

A new candidate will lead the MPLA into next year's elections. He is a devoted loyalist to the current President

Amid all the talk of the quiet Defence Minister, João Lourenço, taking over as head of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, it is often forgotten that President José Eduardo dos Santos remains state President and MPLA leader until after next year's elections. The President's announcement that he would stand down in 2018 only failed to surprise because he has made a speciality of encouraging talk of the succession, only to stamp it out ruthlessly later. Not this time. Lourenço's promotion to the party vice-presidency was confirmed at the MPLA Politburo meeting on 30 November and the seal was set when he delivered an hour-long speech in the main football stadium last weekend. His running mate in the elections will be Bornito de Sousa.

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